Shoe.



Patented May 26, 1903.

(PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. KLEIN, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

sH'oE.

Y SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent'Nm 729,357, dated May 26, 1903.

` Application filed December 24. 1902. Serial No. 136,449. (No inodel.)

To @ZZ w/wm it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. KLEIN, of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and Vuseful Improvement in Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is in the nature of an improvement in shoes, having reference especially tov the reinforcing of the vamp at the lower end of the frontv opening of the shoe and also preventing the external tip above the toe from becoming distorted or torn by the laster.

It consists in a combined vamp and tip stay, constructed and arranged as hereinafter fully described.

Figure 1 is'an inside View of a vamp with my invention applied. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same through line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an inside view of a vamp, showing a modiiication of my invention as applied to what is known as a full vamp 'and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the same on line 4 4: of Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, E represents what is known as a three-quarter Vamp, which extends forwardly only to a little distance beyond the line of stitching which secures the external tip D. This vamp is of the construction in which its two sides are formed in one piece connected below and in front of the front opening of the shoe, and the tip is of the style known as the round tip,which is attached by rowsof stitching starting at the sole on 011eA side and extending'over to the sole on the other side and passing across thevamp some distance below the front opening of the shoe. AB C denote my combined Vamp and tip stay. This is stitched on the inside of the vamp and extends from the toe to the front opening or slit ofV theshoe. It may be made of any kind of material, but is preferably made of. a tough fabric specially woven for such purposes. It is secured by the same lines of .stitching ct d which fasten the outer tip to the vamp. Heretofore it has been the common practice to secure an inner tip of this fabric to the inside of the vamp along the lines a a by the row of stitching which secures the external tip, this lining-piece or inside tip extending forwardly the full distance to the front end of the outside tip, but terminating at the line of stitching at a. lt has also been common to stitch a small detached piece of fabric at the point A along the edge of the vamp in the middle line and directly at the point where the lower end of the front slit of the shoe comes and where the vamp is Weakest and most subjected to strain in lasting and in trying on the shoe. This small detached stay-piece is commonly known as a vamp-stay7 or dutchman.7 In lasting a shoe made in this way the strain of pulling the leather frequently resulted in pulling the external tip to one side, leaving the shoe, when finished, with a crooked tip, or the tip may be torn from the vamp. In my invention I extend the inside lining B of the tip past the lines of stitching d d, with an equal taper on each side, as shown at C, up to the front opening of the shoe, as seen at A, so that at this point it forms the vamp-stay at the weak. point in the vamp, and the vampstay being unitaryfwith the tip-lining B and being also anchored both to the tip and the vamp by the lines of stitching a c it makes a strongly-reinforced connection of these parts, so that the .vamp is not only stayed and strengthened at the middle line,but the anchoragev which the tip has to this stay prevents the tip in the act of lasting from being pulled'to a crooked position and also from being torn off.

ln what is known as the full vamp, where the vamp extends all the way to the toe in one piece, my invention is applied as shown in Figs. 3 and 4'. Vith the full vamp E it is not necessary to have the inner lining B for the tip, as shown in Fig. l, since the vamp itself extends beneath the tip. VThe'vamp-stay A', however, is connected by the tapering piece C with the lines of stitching c a in precisely the same manner and with the same advantageous result as in the first case.

f My combined vamp and tipstay is a specially desirable feature for patent-leather shoes, for in stitching them the punctures made by the needle materially weaken the vamp in the middle part, and under the strain of lasting this causes it to burst very often, as all the strain in lasting comes where the tips are stitched across the vamp. The reinforce and stay which the tapering piece C affords and the anchorage of the tip to the stay IOO A avoids the concentration of strain on the lines of stitching a and saves leather and time wasted by such accidents and also avoids the distortion of the tip.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A combined vamp and tip stay consisting of a vamp, having its two sides made in one piece, a tip having its upper edge connected to the vamp by rows of stitching extending across the same below the front opening of the shoe, a single piece of material eX- tending from the line of stitching of the tip to the front opening of the vamp and connecting and reinforcing these two parts of the shoe substantially as described.

2. A combined Vamp and tip stay consisting of a three-quarter vamp having its two sides made in one piece, a tip having its upper edge connected to the vamp by rows of stitching extending across the same below thc front opening of the shoe, and a single piece of CHARLES F. KLEIN.

Witnesses:

J oHN J. OCoNNoR, JNo. J. WARD. 

